Loose-leaf binder



June 17, 1941. J. 'SCHADE 2,246,068-

LOOSE-LEAF BINDER Original Filed April 24, 1959 2 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR fam/Jamai `Fune 17, 1941. J. SCHADE LOOSE-LEAF BINDER Original Filed April 24, 1959 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR JOHN SCHALE @76M v W ATTOR EYS Patented June 17, 1941 THOSE-LEAF BINDER J Uhn-Schade; Holyoke; Mass., assignor to National Blank-.Book Company, Holyoke,.Mass-., ai corporation. of Massachusetts Original application' April 24, 1939i Seriali No.

269556# DividedY and this 1940, Serial No. 346,011

(Cl. 12B-17)Y 7.- Claims.v

This'invention' relates to an improved loose leaf binder particularly of the-` type: usedito hold loose leafV sheets of the visible index bookkeeping kind. In such binders, theruser,v infaddition to inserting new sheets; frequently wantsto shift some of' thevisible index sheets longitudinall'yof the back to change, for instance, their chronologicall` or alphabetical order. According to-thepresent' invention, the binder is constructed to provide for the utmost flexibility-- and simplicityf of action for.' this purpose and? at the same time has numerousnovell.` features which render the structuremore satisfactory and SerViceabIeoVer a' period of rough usesuchA asv these binders are subjected t'o'.

Thist application is a` divisional case of my copending application SerialI No. 2693556,` l'e'dl April 24, 1'9'391 'Ihe'manner in which my structure'- has been arranged to accomplish the desired results can bestbe understood from a' reading of thespecii'lV-A cation in connection with theaccompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a top-plan view ofv the binder, with the covers opened" and broken4 away to save drawing space, and showing4 the prong sets in one of several overlapped' positions determined4 byl a latchingv` mechanism;

Fig. 2 is asectionalviewA on line 2i-2 of Fig: 1';

Fig. 3 is a topl plan view of a suiicient part' of the right hand portionv of' Fig. 1 to'show how`the prong sets may be olsetl longitudinally an amount. equal' to the distancel between a pair of' binding holes'i'n an index' sheet;

Fig. lV is a view of the parts of Fig; 3`;,buti1lus' trating how these'parts may bey manipulatedV so that the prong sets4 are oi'set'longitudinally twice the spacebetween binding holes;

Fig. 5- is an enlargedL sectionaly view` on` linel 5-5 of Fig. 4*; andl Fig. 6 is a* side elevation'talienl on line E '-6" of Fig. 2.

In general, the binder'structurehereindisclosed` has latching mechanism for holding" the binderwith the prongs in various degrees' of overlap and' a novel' slide mechanismKV for changing the longitudinal positiony of the prongs. Inasmuch as the latching mechanism is dealt with at length and is the subject matter of. the claims in' my copending application referred to, I will onlyde'- scribe it in sufficientv detail so its operation` may be understood and will deal' principallyY with the` novel slide mechanism'.

Referring iirst to Figs. 1, 2, and 6j the binder consists generally' of apair of-I Zf-shaped"Y angular Ill application J uly -1-7.

backy plates 5i and 6' having thi-fir` short depending' legs13 pivoted. together by meansof apiano hinge at l. The long upstanding legs 8f and @terminate inr a series; oi`v spaced hinge eyesy II to whichfare pivoted' covers- I2c and i345 bymeans ofv hinging strips Ill" and I5- which have hinge eyes I6 that are complementary to hinge eyes I Il and pivotally connected thereto as indicated.v Secured toeach of the longrlegsand 9 of plates 5 and 6i by any suitable means is-ananchor plate IIl andv a; hoodz member I8, this last to prevent the binder from' scarring: surfacesr on which it may be usedand to; add" a finished appearance. Each anchor plate Ilfhasa series of' hook-shapedl tongues 20 which extend laterally from` the top edge oftheplates through the spaces between hinge eyes'` IiI t'o :form atrack for the prong carrying plates 2P and-f 22' havinga series of prongs 232 and 24, respectively, which extend in an arc over theplat'es 5' and 6' (see Fig. 2). Plates 5 and 6` are'notched midway betweenv their endsV asV at 25 and25- to provide for a pair o-f latch members 2l and 28' having gooseneck extensionsL of the same curvature. As isindicated, member 2'I'Y is xedly attached to'the bottom ofV plate 5V and has its goose'- neck' portion extending through notches 25'v and ZGan'd underlying plate 6 (seeFig. 1)". The latch` member 28'4 is; on' the other hand, pivotally coni; nected asl at 2-'81" totheV bottom of plate 6* and has its gooseneck portion extending through not'chesZ-S?" and 2li-and underlynglplate'. Along' one edge; member 2'8" has a nose or dog 29i whichl can-'engagea series of shoulders 3D; 3 I, 3'2, formed asf serrations along'V theA adjacent edger of member 2`I-to1 allow the plates 5 and' 6V tobe heldL in varie ous angular' positions around the pivot lto thereby change the overlapof the' prongs 23 and 24. On thefopposite' edge, member 28Y has a pair of cam surfacesy 3'31and" 34. As is morefully describedl in mycopending applica-tion, when the dog 29 isrel'eased from engagement with thenotchL-'ill by rotating member 28- about its pivot 28' and' the plates 511 and@ 61 areV rotated around hingev I from the position of Fig. 1-', cam surfaces 33- and 3'4 cooperate with' the top edge 35A of slot 25' to act as-an` escapement and force dog' 29 succes-- sivelyA into engagement with shoulders 31 and 32.

Torotate member28 to release thel latch mechanism, a trigger rod 3B is provided which in` the form of along at bar with oppositely4 dis'- posed` olset ends' 31'; andl 38 and which is' posi'- tionedtolie parallel to and'inside'of the depending legt"` of plate 6- (see'Figs. 1 and'l). Trigger rod 3,61 is`r dimensi'onedso that thev offset 38L l'ie`s` jbe' yond the lower endA of the' binder to provide a' convenient handle. Offset 31 protrudes through a slot cut in the depending leg 3 of plate 6 (see Fig. 6) and forms a support for that end of the trigger rod. Where the trigger rod underlies latch member 2S it has an upstanding integral lug 39 which passes through a hole in member 28. A spring 4|] (see Figs. 5 and 6) is tensioned about depending lugs 4| and 42 on plate 6 and has its end engaging a shoulder 43 on trigger rod 36, the spring being wound to force the trigger rod 36 in a direction to engage members 21 and 28. Thus the user may disengage latch member 28 from member 21 by simply pressing von offset 38, the upper end of notch 26 in plate 6 being provided with a slot 44 located on the depending leg 3 to allow for the motion of member 28.

From the above it will be clear that the user may change the overlapped relation of the prong sets 23 and 24 by simply pressing the offset end 38 of member 36 successively and allowing the plates 5 and 6 to fall to spread positions around hinge 1 by their own weight. These spread positions are of course those determined by the engagement of nose 29 of member 28 with scrrations 30, 3|, and 32 on the xed latch member 21.

It is believed that the foregoing will make suciently clear for the purposes of this disclosure the operation of the latching mechanism, and I will therefore now describe in detail the novel slide mechanism with which this case is chiey concerned.

Referring again to Figs. l, 2 and 6, plate 2| is a simple at plate which lies parallel to the long leg 8 of plate 5 while plate 22 is angular in cross section with the short leg 45 of the angle overlying the flat surface of plate 6. In the binder herein shown plate 2| is stationary, being secured to leg 8 in any suitable manner as for instance by spot welding, while plate 22 may slide longitudinally in the trackway formed by the tongues of the right hand anchor plate to thereby vary the relative longitudinal position of prongs 23 and 24. As appears in Figs. 1 and 2, overlying short leg 45 of plate 22 is a short angular rack member 46 having its toothed portion extending downwardly through a slot 41 in plate 6. Rack member 46 has its teeth in engagement with pinion teeth 48 on a pinion 49 pivoted at 59 to the bottom of plate 6. As is clear from Fig. 1, prong carrying plate 22 may be moved longitudinally to displace the prong set 24 by merely rotating pinion 49 about its pivot 59, the depending arm of the rack 46 by cooperation with slot 41 serving to guide one end of the lower edge of plate 22. The other end of the lower edge is guided by clip 5| preferably riveted as shown to plate 6 and overlying the short angular leg 45 of plate 22.

In addition to pinion teeth 48, pinion 49 has a set of pinion teeth 52 (see Fig. 1) which are formed on a larger radius than teeth 48. The extremities of these teeth 52 extend through a slot out in a depending leg 3 of plate 6 and are engaged by a series of slots 53 cut in a depending skirt of an angular slide 54 which overlaps plate 6 (see Figs. 1, 2 and 6) and may slide between limits thereon parallel to the axis of the central hinge 1.

At its forward end the slide 54 has a pair of downwardly directed tabs 55 struck out of the material of the slide, the tabs extending through a slot 56 cut in plate 6 with their extremities rebent to underlie the bottom surface of plate 6 and secure the forward end of slide 54 to said plate (see Fig. 3). Towards its lower end slide 54 has secured to it a pin 51 extending through a slot 58 likewise cut in plate 6. As is shown in Fig. 5,

this pin 51 has an enlarged head underlying plate 6 to maintain this end of the slide 54 in sliding contact with plate 6.

Comparing Figs. 1 and 4, it will be seen that the slots 56 and 58 in plate 5 are dimensioned so that they act to limit the motion of slide 54 to the two extreme positions to which pinion 49 can be moved by cooperation of gear teeth 52 and slots 53 (see also Fig. 6). As will also be apparent from these figures, when the slide 54 passes from its normal position of Fig. 1 to its maximum displaced position of Fig. 4, the prongs 24 have been displaced longitudinally from prongs 23 a distance corresponding to twice the distance between adjacent binding holes in the binding sheets. To make this clear note in Fig. 4 the distance between lines X and Z which shows the displacement of prong 24 from the position of Fig. 1 wliile the distance X-Y is the normal distance between binding holes in the index sheet.

While the mechanism just described provides for a longitudinal prong oiset equal to twice the distance between binding holes in index sheets, I have found that normally an offset just'equal to the distance between binding holes is the most likely to be used. I have therefore provided a specially constructed handle which not only serves as a convenient means to shift slide 54 but also is constructed so that it may be rocked to two different positions, in the rst of which it limits the motion of slide 54 to half its normal or full stroke so that the longitudinal displacement of prongs 24 is only equal to the distance between binding holes, and in the second of which it allows for the full stroke of slide 54. Referring to Figs. 35 and 6, this handle consists of a flat angular member 59 having a vertical oiset 66 at one end and pivoted as at 6| near the lower end of Slide 54. A short leaf spring 62 is riveted to member 59 and presses into either of two seats 65 and 65 provided in member 54, a small ball bearing 63 which can pass freely through a hole 54 in member 59 (see Fig. 5) At the lower end slide 54 likewise has a vertical stop 61 and a rebent keeper 68 formed integrally from the material of the slide as shown. This stop 61 and the keeper 68 limit the rotation of member 59 about pivot 6| to the two positions shown by Figs. 3 and 4 while the ball 63 acts as a spring pressed detent to maintain the member 59 in either position.

Member 59 has a nose 69 formed at its forward end and in the position of member 59 shown in Fig. 3, this nose overlies a slot 10 in slide 54. Extending upwardly through slot 10 is a `tongue 1| struck up from plate 6. Therefore if the handle 59 is left in the position of Fig. l and the slide 54 moved by grasping vertical offset 60, the nose 69 contacts the tongue 1| and the motion of the slide is limited to one-half the maximum distance-possible, the prongs being displaced only the distance X-Y, that is the distance between successive binding holes (see Fig. 3).

From the above it is clear that the user is allowed a choice of the amountof longitudinal displacement to be given the prongs and can control the displacement by merely shifting the handle 59. This feature makes the binder extremely well suited for rapid use in shifting operations of more than one kind or distance, and when combined with the latch mechanism already described and which controls the overlapped relation of tho prong sets results in various desirable binder manipulations being possible andmore conveniently than heretofore.

The extreme flexibility of this binder will be readily apparent because as will be remembered, the oiset relation of the prongs can be varied at any time independently of the over-lapped relation and the amount of variation which is produced can itself be varied. The operation in varying the longitudinal relation of the prong sets resolves itself simply to sliding the slide 54 to either of its two positions as determined by the position of member 59 while the overlapped relation is varied by a separate manipulation of the trigger 36.

It will be seen from the foregoing that I have produced a binder for the purpose described which though considerably involved in mechanical detail has been so arranged that its operation from the standpoint of the user is much simpler and allows for more rapid work.

I claim:

1. A binder having a back portion including two hingedly connected plates, a set of prongs supported at the side edge of each plate, a slidable bar carrying one set for movement longitudinally of one plate, an operating slide associated with said plate and reciprocable relative to said plate to and from a normal and an extended position, members connecting said slidable bar and operating slide for transferring reciprocation from the slide to the bar, a handle for reciprocating the operating slide and means to selectively limit the reciprocation of saidslide to and from the normal position and a point intermediate of said normal and extended positions.

2. A binder having a back portion including two hingedly connected plates, a set of prongs supported at the side edge of each plate, a slidable bar carrying one set for movement longitudinally of one plate, an operating slide associated with said plate and reciprocable longitudinally relative to said plate to and from a normal and an extended position, members connecting said slidable bar and operating slide for transferring reciprocation from the slide to the bar, a handle for reciprocating the operating slide, means selectively engageable by the handle for limiting the movement of said slide to and from the normal position and a point intermediate said normal and extended positions.

`3. A binder having a back portion including two hingedly connected plates, a set of prongs supported at the side edge of each plate, a slidable bar carrying one set for movement longitudinally of one plate, an operating slide associated with said plate and reciprocable longitudinally relative to said plate to and from a normal and an extended position, members connecting said slidable bar and operating slide for transferring reciprocation from the slide to the bar, an operating handle for said slide pivoted to said slide and rockable to two positions, means engageable by the handle in one of its two rocked positions for limiting the reciprocation of the slide to and from the normal position and a position intermediate the normal and extended positions.

4. A binder having a back portion including two hingedly connected plates, a set of prongs supported at the side edge of each plate, a slidable bar carrying one set for movement longitudinally of one plate, a pinion pivoted on one back plate and having two sets of gear teeth, the respective sets having different pitch diameters, a rack bar attached to said slidable bar and in engagement with the set of pinion gear teeth of smaller diameter, a reciprocable pinion plate associated with one back plate and having teeth in engagement with the set of pinion gear teeth of larger diameter and being reciprocable to and from a normal and an extended position for longitudinal movement of said slidable bar, a handle on the pinion plate movable to two positions, means engageable by the handle in one of the two positions for limiting the reciprocation of the slide to and from the normal position and a position intermediate the normal and extended positions.

5. A binder having a back portion including two hingedly connected plates, a set of prongs supported at the side edge of each plate, a slidable bar carrying one set for movement longitudinally of one plate, a rack bar attached to said slidable bar, a pinion on one back plate engaging said rack bar, a slidable pinion plate associated with one back plate for operating said pinion between two determined limits, and means on said pinion plate and one back plate cooperable to releasably limit the motion of said pinion plate to a point intermediate the aforesaid limits, all for the purpose described.

6. The structure of claim 5 with said means on said pinion plate consisting of a handle on the pinion plate movable to two positions and adapted in one position to vengage a lug on the back plate which is associated with said pinion plate to limit the motion of said pinion plate to said intermediate point, and in the other position to allow motion of the pinion plate between its extreme limits.

7. A binder having a back portion including two hingedly connected plates, a set of prongs supported at the side edge of each plate, a slidable bar carrying one set for movement longitudinally of one plate, a rack bar attached to said slidable bar, a pinion on one back plate engaging said rack bar, a slidable pinion plate associated with one back plate for operating said pinion between two determined limits, a handle on the pinion plate movable to two positions and adapted in one position to engage a lug on the back plate which is associated with said pinion plate to limit the motion of said pinion plate to said intermediate point, and in the other position to allow motion of the pinion plate between its extreme limits, and detent means to releasably secure said handle in either of its two positions.

JOHN SCHADE. 

